From the opening lines: “Ask me where I wanna be // Look around tell you what I see // Don’t want to be anywhere but here,” Mimi O’Bonsawin’s single ‘Steady’ is so heartfelt and disarmingly emotive that the feeling remains with you long after listening. The song builds steadily, growing in intensity and shimmering beauty, peaking with dreamy guitar from Marc-Antoine Joly and O’Bonsawin’s extended notes. O’Bonsawin’s vocal performance is gorgeous; her voice is clear and pure, reflective words delivered with intimate, melodic clarity.
Written some years ago while sitting on a dock overlooking Lake Huron, ‘Steady’ is a quietly introspective song about learning who you are and your place in the world. O’Bonsawin explains: “I wrote this song before I really decided that I didn’t want to have children, before I really knew who I was. Do you ever stop figuring out who you are? I sure hope not. Soul searching is my favourite pastime.” In particular, the song confronts the expectations about motherhood that are placed on women and the complex feelings resulting from making different choices. “Everywhere I go, people ask me when I’m going to have children. And the truth is, I can’t… but I also never really wanted to. I can’t help but feel like I’m disappointing people, but my role as a woman does not need to be tied to being a mother. I’m still learning how to be a daughter, a sister, an auntie. I feel like I’m always birthing parts of my spirit into my songs. Every little bit of my heart is explored in music and shared on stage or on my records so others can find connection. That’s what I want to bring into the world, and I remind myself every day that that is enough.” Her words and approach are thoughtful, sensitive, considered and soulful, and the result is fabulous songwriting.
The song also reflects on the passing of time and the conflict between being present and grounded with the expectations of the future. The world is full of noise, and ‘Steady’ seems to call for a simpler way. O’Bonsawin continues: “This song explores some of the most personal and intimate questions I ask myself. It dives into emotions that are still too hard for me to talk about without getting emotional. It’s actually really hard for me to talk about things that are personal or difficult without crying… somehow, singing and sharing it with the world is the easiest way to talk about hard things. This song made me see that about myself… I don’t think I really understood that before.”
Alex McFarland of The Trenches Media Inc. directed the video, which features O’Bonsawin’s log home in Eastern Ontario, where she also records her music. It allows us a glimpse of both her home life and her life as an artist. McFarland shares: “Mimi and I have been best friends for such a long time, and I’ve been around for most chapters of her musical career. ‘Steady’s’ video is a comfy, warm, and intimate look into Mimi’s life during the process of creating her new album. Being there felt like we were able to escape from reality and exist in a space where creativity could truly thrive.”
O’Bonsawin is French Canadian & W8banaki (Abénaki), a member of the Odanak First Nation, and ‘Steady’ is the follow-up to ‘P8GWAS’ (meaning The Moon), her first single sung in the W8banaki Language, Aln8ba8dwaw8gan. If you like your music vulnerable and reflective, then absorb this and look out for O’Bonsawin’s upcoming album in 2026.
